Being an average Muslim

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lI listened to this lecture by Yasir Qadhi with the Q&A session and he mentioned that travelling to study abroad or being a devoted Talib al-Ilm learning more than what is fard ‘ayn isn’t a must and there is nothing wrong per se with being just an average Muslim. Obviously you have to have knowledge of ‘aqidah and basic fiqh, you have to develop a relationship with the Speech of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala and keep learning about your religion (implementing what you learn), but it is perfectly okay to just be an average Muslim.

Now, I started practising when I was about twelve and I’ve gone through a sort of evolution like most Muslims. I was overzealous at the beginning (something my family had to bear with patience) and I’m still young so a lot of things will probably change in the future as well (of course, depending on what is written in al-Lawh al-Mahfoodh about how long I will live). During these years I’ve tried to study Islam to the best of my abilities (attending halaqat with a wonderful Eritrean shaykh may Allah bless him, reading books and reading/listening to material from the Internet) with varying degrees of commitment. Sometimes I’ve been really enthusiastic and other times I’ve really slackened. Myself and a Somalian brother my age have even discussed about applying to the Islamic University in Medinah, which my parents aren’t to enthusiastic about so I’ll see how that works out. But there are times when I just feel that I’m not cut out to really be a Talib al-’Ilm and that I should just settle for being an average Muslim, learning the basics and practising Islam to the best of my abilities without studying more than what is obligatory. The only “problem” with this is that I’ve tasted the sweetness of praying Qiyam al-Layl whilst reciting the Qur’an and having a basic understanding of the words and meanings. I’ll just quote a part of Shaykh Muhammed Salih al-Munajjid’s book 33 Ways of developing Khushoo’ in Salaah where you can see examples from the Sunnah how you can make your night prayer and recitation of the Qur’an during it rich and full of life:

Another way of helping oneself to ponder over the meanings is to repeat aayaat, because this will help one to think deeply and look again at the meanings. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to do this. It was reported that he spent a night repeating one aayah until morning came. The aayah was (interpretation of the meaning): “If you punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them, verily You, only You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.” [al-Maa’idah 5:118]. (Reported by Ibn Khuzaymah, 1/271 and Ahmad, 5/149; Sifat al-Salaah, p. 102). [Translator’s note: Shaykh al-Albaani’s book Sifat al-Salaah is available in English under the title The Prophet’s Prayer described by Shaikh Muhammad Naasir-ud-Deen al-Albaani, translated by Usama ibn Suhaib Hasan, Al-Haneef Publications, Ipswich, UK, 1993]

Another way of helping oneself ponder over the meanings is to interact with the aayaat. Hudhayfah said: “ I prayed with the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) one night… he was reciting at length. If he recited an aayah that mentioned tasbeeh, he would say Subhaan Allaah; if it mentioned a question, he would ask a question; if it mentioned seeking refuge with Allaah, he would seek refuge with Allaah.” (Reported by Muslim, no. 772). According to another report, [Hudhayfah] said: “I prayed with the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and if he recited an aayah that mentioned mercy, he would ask for mercy; if he recited an aayah that mentioned punishment, he would seek refuge with Allaah, and if he recited an aayah that mentioned deanthropomorphism of Allaah, he would say Subhaan-Allaah.” (Ta’zeem Qadr al-Salaah, 1/327). This was reported concerning qiyaam al-layl (prayer at night).

The thing is, when you have a chance to experience this then you get addicted to it. I wish that every Muslim could get to experience standing in front of their Lord, reciting from His Book and pondering over the meaning. The time flies and you feel a sense of not only being close to God but also of following the tradition of His Prophets. It’s something else. So when you have experienced this, you want to get a deeper understanding of Qur’anic Arabic and the tafsir of the ayaat you recite and you want to memorize even more (even though it is okay to hold a mushaf during non-obligatory prayers according to one opinion) so that you can experience more of this sweetness. This urge to get even more skilled in reciting the Qur’an and knowing more about the tafsir makes you unsatisfied with being only an average Muslim. Obviously, even if you are only an average Muslim you could still devote portions of your time to studying the Qur’an so there doesn’t really have to be a problem but these are just some of my thoughts. In the end, it is comforting to know that you don’t have to be an ‘alim or advanced student of knowledge to be a good Muslim. So when you see what kind of encyclopedic knowledge some of the Shuyukh have masha Allah, you don’t have to fall into despair because of your own state.

Also, I’ll just add that earlier I was very into the “scientific miracles of the Qur’an” which are, in a lot of cases but not always, far fetched attempts to read stuff into the Qur’an which isn’t there. But after having experienced what I just described of reciting the Qur’an whilst having a basic understanding of the meaning,  I know that this is proof enough that the Qur’an is from the Creator.

Here are two not so old but classic videos with Qur’an recitation (with English translation of the meaning to the first video):

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